Raiders of the Lost Ark

Raiders of the Lost Ark

You may be wondering why I am reviewing Raiders of the Lost Ark now.  It's an established classic, most people have seen it, and if they don't like it, then they are most likely crazy.  So why review it now?  Well, I have two reasons.  First off, there is a whole generation of movie watchers growing up now that actually have NOT have seen it, as shocking as they may sound. My wife is a teacher, and when Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out, she asked her students what they thought.  "Meh," they replied, "it was just a ripoff of National Treasure with an old guy."

"A ripoff of National Treasure with an old guy."  

I was horrified.  Not so much that they didn't like Crystal Skull, because that film was downright awful, but because their response implied they had not seen the other Indiana Jones adventures.  Really?!  What kind of parents do these kids have?!?!  How can they not have introduced their kids to Indiana Jones?!  So this column is for those kids.  Maybe one of them will read the review, be inspired to go rent the film with their friends, and therefore be enlightened with the magic of a true adventure masterpiece, and hopefully someday show their own children.  That is the circle of life the way it was meant to be.

The second reason I am writing this review now is because I just received the BluRay as a gift.  A few days later, I was with a friend, and we were planning on watching a different film.  But first, he wanted to see the Raiders transfer so he could decide whether or not to buy it himself.  We plopped it into his projector, and about two minutes into the film, he turned to me and said, "Do you kinda just want to watch the rest of this?"  And I answered, "Yeah, I kinda do."  It doesn't matter how many times I've seen it.  If Raiders is on, I'm not going to move from the couch for two hours.  And I'll just say right now - the work done on the film is marvelous.  It looks and sounds truly stunning in HD, and is definitely a worthy upgrade from the DVD!

So here is a short synopsis.  On the eve of World War 2, word reaches U.S. army intelligence that the Nazis are searching for religious artifacts of great power that might give them the upper hand in the war everyone knows is about the erupt.  Their latest target is the the Ark of the Covenant, the golden box where the ancient Hebrews kept the pieces of the Ten Commandments.  U.S. agents ask Indiana Jones to go to Egypt and find the Ark before the Nazis do.  I kind of don't want to say anything else because for those who have not seen the movie - the less you know about this roller coaster, the better the ride is going to be!

Sometimes with older films, I worry if nostalgia is tinting my affection.  This is really not the case with Raiders.  This film is lightning in a bottle.  Watching the movie again, I really paid attention to it as a film.  And it really is almost a flawless piece of work.  The script is tight, without an ounce of fat or wasted time.  The cinematography by Douglas Slocombe is superb and gave me easily a dozen shots that have been branded into my brain for all time.  John Williams' score is among his best and of course includes a main theme every bit as iconic as his intro to Star Wars.  Harrison Ford found the role of a lifetime and he has never been better.  The rest of the cast, including Karen Allen (Star Man), Paul Freeman (The Long Good Friday), John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings), and Denholm Elliot (Cuba), are truly excellent.  Director Steven Spielberg was at the top of his game as a filmmaker.  And alongside Spielberg, look at who else contributed to the story - George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan and Phillip Kaufman.  That's one helluva writing team there.

How good is Raiders of the Lost Ark?  It's so good that there are actually a number of glaring plot holes that you completely 100% forgive.  Minor spoilers here:  How did Indiana Jones stay on the Nazi submarine as it traveled to the Nazi base, especially once it submerged?  How did he know that the Ark would do that at the end of the film?  The movie never says, and we don't care.  Because our answer to these questions is always the same: "I don't know.  He's Indiana Jones!  He figured it out."  And I'm okay with that as the answer to any and all plot questions you might be able to think of.  He just figured it out.

Enough said.  Raiders of the Lost Ark is a true classic.  National Treasure may have been diverting enough, but it doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence.  Shame on you, high schoolers, get your damn priorities straight.  Your homework is to go see Raiders and now.

BEST LINE:
Which line should I choose?  So tough.  How about this. "It's not the years, honey.  It's the mileage."

MVP:
Another really tough call.  Do I reward Spielberg for his terrific direction, Lawrence Kasdan for giving my childhood some its most memorable lines, or John Williams for that infectious music?  I think in the end I have to go with Harrison Ford.  This is one of those rare roles where the actor and character so seamlessly blend, there is no way anyone else could have done it.  Tom Selleck was originally cast in the role, and I think he would have been fine, and the movie certainly entertaining enough.  But it wouldn't have been as perfect.  And I don't think Selleck could have done what Ford did (just like I think Ford would have been an inferior Magnum P.I.).  Ford has done a lot fine work in a lot of great films, but in those movies, he is Harrison Ford playing a character.  But even when I watch Raiders of the Lost Ark today, I am surprised how the line between character and performer just doesn't seem to exist.  He IS Indiana Jones.  And for that, Harrison Ford gets the MVP.

TRIVIA:
Lots of great trivia with this one!  But how about we go back to those plot holes I mentioned earlier.  What is weird about the plot holes is that in the first cut of the movie, they were not plot holes at all.  Indiana Jones knew about the Ark's power at the end of the film because the old wise man in Cairo warned him about it.  And when the submarine traveled to its secret base, Indiana Jones survived the trip by using his whip to tie himself to the periscope, which I actually remember seeing in the comic adaptation when I was a kid and wondering why it wasn't in the film.  I am not sure why these scenes were cut from the movie.  It's kind of strange because they do provide crucial information for the plot.  Other deleted scenes include a German officer almost executing Sallah, but that scene was deemed too long and too serious for such an adventure (though the acting was supposedly superb).  There was also a massive set piece fight scene between Indiana Jones and the swordsman in the Cairo market.  The rumor is Ford was feeling sick and couldn't finish filming the sequence.  So they ad libbed the scene where he just shoots the swordsman instead - easily one of the funniest moments of entire franchise!

OSCARS AND NOMINATIONS:

Nominated for:

Best Picture (lost to Chariots of Fire)
Best Director (lost to Warren Beatty, Reds)
Best Cinematography (lost to Vittorio Storaro, Reds)
Best Original Score (lost to Vangelis, Chariots of Fire)

Won:

Best Art Direction
Best Sound
Best Film Editing
Best Visual Effects
Special Achievement Award for Best Sound Effects Editing

Morning Glory (2010)

Morning Glory

So somewhere in Morning Glory is a good movie, an entertaining comedy about a dying morning TV show called "Daybreak," which is last in the ratings and desperate for attention.  The two hosts of the show, Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton) and Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) hate each other, and the hyperactive new producer Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) is frantically trying to keep the castle from crumbling.  I saw that movie, and I thought it was pretty good and gave me some good belly laughs.  Unfortunately, that movie is only about fifteen minutes long and is buried inside the real Morning Glory, which is a big ol' bust.

I'm not sure where to start.  I suppose the first problem is that Morning Glory makes the hyperactive producer the focus of the story.  This type of character is funny as support, but as a main character, the anxiousness gets old, and fast.  And that is doubly disappointing because the producer is played by Rachel McAdams.  For those of you who don't know me, I am a big McAdams fan: her luminous presence stole the show in Wedding Crashers, she propelled Red Eye into a genuine suspenseful winner, and she even made The Notebook watchable!  But she is misused here, and the movie's cardinal sin is that they found a way to make McAdams unlikable.  She is over anxious, talks way too much and way too fast and is constantly running around around like a headless chicken.  Characters in the film are annoyed by her spunk, and I think audiences were, too.  I know I was.  The movie is then further burdened by a gratuitous romance for Becky, a cliched subplot that adds nothing to the story and just drags on the movie like an anchor.

Why the romantic subplot is even in the film is beyond me.  It's certainly not the relationship that director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) is interested in.  He is more concerned with Becky's struggles with Pomeroy, a grumpy news anchor who cares more about hard journalism than the frothy junk morning shows often churn out.  This is a bit more interesting, and does provide some nice moments for McAdams and Ford.  But it still feels emotionally tacked on.  And it is certainly not where the fun is.

The fun is in those broadcasts.  Colleen Peck is game and willing to do anything to get the ratings up, whether it is kissing frogs or fighting someone in a sumo wrestler costume.  She hates the arrogant Pomeroy who takes everything so seriously.  At a certain point, they just stop the pretense and start openly insulting each other on the air - all while smiling professionally for the cameras.  This is fantastic stuff, and Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton play wonderfully off each other.  This is where the movie should have focused.  That would have been one great romantic comedy.

Instead, Keaton is wasted.  She is given some good material in the first half and then just disappears as an afterthought in the second half of the film.  That an actress of her talent and stature is relegated to an afterthought is deeply annoying to me.  Keaton isn't alone.  Patrick Wilson is wasted.  Jeff Goldblum is wasted.  When it comes down to it, even Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams are wasted.  The whole movie is a missed opportunity and that is a big bummer for me.  This could have been, should have been terrific.

MVP: I guess I will give it to Harrison Ford.  People have generally ragged on Ford's comedies, and with movies like Six Days, Seven Nights, I can understand why.  But I think that has more to do with his choices as opposed to his ability.  Ford is a solid comedian, with a good sense of timing and a great growl.  When a joke works in Morning Glory, it is generally because Ford is involved somehow.  Granted, he was given the opportunity to shine, while the script pushes Keaton out of the spotlight, but I don't think that should take away from his performance.  For one thing, his deadpan reactions to the insanity happening on 'Daybreak' are priceless.  He deserves the MVP for those double takes alone!

TRIVIA: Don Roy King, plays the director of "Daybreak," and Robert Caminiti, who plays the assistant director, are the real director and assistant director on Saturday Night Live.  I thought that was kind of nifty.

BEST LINE: Mike Pomeroy: "I won't say the word, 'fluffy.'"

Blade Runner

Blade Runner - The Final Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Not long ago, the Final Cut of Bladerunner was released on DVD and Blu Ray. With a movie that has had as many versions as Bladerunner has had, I admit I was a bit skeptical. Yet this last version of Bladerunner was overseen by director Ridley Scott himself and unlike George Lucas' revisions on Star Wars, Scott's changes truly do correct errors and enhance the film. Simply put, the Final Cut of Bladerunner is indeed the final and finest version of the film out there.

Most of you have probably already seen the film, and there is no need to go into details on the plot. But for those who have not seen the movie, it is the story of Deckard (Harrison Ford), who is a "bladerunner," a special police officer/detective who tracks down Replicants, androids who are created to look human. Built originally to be servants or soldiers with programmed life spans of a just a few years to keep them in line, a band of Replicants has gone rogue and are loose on Earth trying to find the secret of their existence and the solution to their imminent death.

The movie, re-edited heavily and laden with horrible voiceover narration, was a financial disappointment. But the film picked up cult status early on and subsequent versions have teased its brilliance. Let there be no doubt, with the Final Cut, it is clear that this movie is a brilliant and probably the finest film noir since the 1940s. And at its heart, despite the science fiction elements, Bladerunner is indeed a film noir. From the costumes to the script to the chiaroscuro lighting to the performances, this is classic Hollywood noir. But just as he did with the horror film in Alien, Ridley Scott elevates the genre, turns it on its head and points it in new direction that we have not seen before. The film is a masterpiece, and I use that word rarely!

SPOILER ALERT: There has been much discussion and debate that Harrison Ford's Deckard is actually a replicant himself. This is due to some script inconsistencies and other clues littered throughout the film, such as the unicorn dream sequence. A few years ago, Scott came out and said Deckard is indeed a replicant. Who am I to disagree with the director? But I am going to anyway! I don't buy it. Not only do I feel like the movie doesn't work as well if he is a replicant, but I also think it actually cheapens the film. To me, the major theme of the film is how it is the replicants who act more human, who strive to feel, to be alive. Deckard, cold and calculating like a machine, is only able to rediscover his own humanity through his brutal experiences battling the replicants. That is the power of the movie. To make Deckard a replicant just ruins that and reduces the movie to a gimmick. I am happy that even if Scott says Deckard is a replicant, both the film's stars Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer also disagree with him! Interesting that the debate rages even within the cast and crew itself...

So to sum up, this film is no longer a cult classic - it is a bona fide classic, one of Ridley Scott's finest moments, and certainly one of the most influential films of the 1980s.

MVP: Despite disagreeing with his replicant revelation, the MVP is clearly Ridley Scott. Scott is always fantastic at creating different worlds that really could be lived in, as opposed to appearing as Hollywood sets, and Bladerunner's rainy, dirty dystopia is one of his best and most influential visions. And there is no better way to see it than in Blu Ray! Very impressive!

Best Line: Rutger Hauer's last words: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die."

Oscar Nominations: Two - Art Direction and Special Effects